The Federal Communications Commission should stop its
nonbinding 180-day clock for finishing its review, the
Communications Workers of America told the agency in a letter
today. The companies were late in producing documents that in
some cases can’t be searched or read, the union said.

Verizon, the largest U.S. mobile provider, announced in
December the purchase of unused airwaves from a group led by top
U.S. cable company Comcast Corp. and No. 2 Time Warner Cable
Inc. The companies pledged joint marketing. Verizon said
regulators shouldn’t scrutinize cooperative arrangements. The
agency asked for details last month.

“The applicants are trying avoid real scrutiny,” Debbie
Goldman, telecommunications policy director for the
Communications Workers, said in an interview. “From the
beginning the parties have tried to keep the commercial
agreements secret, and that’s the crux of this deal -- what
former competitors have now agreed to do together.”

Documents given to deal critics have lacked indexes that
make their information searchable, and in some cases have
arrived in formats that researchers can’t read, Goldman said.
The union, which has said that competition creates jobs for its
members, is in contract negotiations with Verizon Wireless and
its parent company, Verizon Communications Inc.

Reduced Competition Concern

The accords make allies of cable companies pushing into the
phone business and Verizon Wireless, whose parent has entered
cable’s traditional video business.

Opponents have said the deals would bring less competition
and higher prices. Verizon says the spectrum purchase will bring
it airwaves needed to meet soaring demand from smartphones and
data-hungry tablet computers such as Apple Inc.’s iPad.

“We have cooperated fully in responding to the FCC’s
requests for information, and are continuing to cooperate to
make sure we get them any information they need,” Ed McFadden,
a Washington-based Verizon spokesman, said in an e-mail.

Tom Tauke, a Verizon executive vice president, said in an
interview yesterday that “we believe that the FCC is making a
very thorough analysis of the license transfer and that they’re
on track to give approval in July.”

Could Resume Review

The FCC can halt and restart the clock as it awaits
information from applicants. The agency halted the clock for 37
days last year as it considered AT&T Inc.’s proposed purchase of
T-Mobile USA Inc., a deal that later was scrapped amid
regulatory opposition. The clock for the Verizon-cable deal
stood at its 92nd day today.

The union in February told the FCC the deal raises
“serious competitive concerns.”

The Justice Department is separately considering the
marketing agreements.

Verizon said April 18 it will sell other spectrum licenses
it purchased in 2008 if it can complete the purchase under
scrutiny from the FCC and Justice Department. The timing of the
sale announcement isn’t tied to the progress of the spectrum
purchase at the FCC, Peter Thonis, a Verizon spokesman, said in
an e-mail that day.

The FCC also is examining Verizon Wireless’s proposed $315
million airwaves purchase and cooperation agreement with Cox
Communications Inc.

Verizon Wireless, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is 55
percent-owned by Verizon and 45 percent-owned by Vodafone Group
Plc, based in Newbury, England.

Sena Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia-based
Comcast, and Alex Dudley, a spokesman for New York-based Time
Warner, didn’t immediately return telephoned requests to
comment.